5 Mother's Day truths

Laura Willard is a law school grad who has successfully avoided using her education for eight years and counting. She's a wife and an adoptive mom to two kids. Motherhood is the best job she never knew she wanted so much until she had it...

Mother’s Day is all about Mom…or not

Mother’s Day is a day dedicated to celebrating Mom, but let’s be honest. Mom usually takes a few for the team on her special day.

1

They make the breakfast for you, but you eat it for them

The fabulous breakfast in bed for Mother's Day, courtesy of your little ones. The sentiment is incredibly sweet. The end product? Often, not so much. Burned toast? Check. Chunks of butter on the too-toasted toast? Got it. Backwashed, pre-sampled orange juice? Absolutely. But you eat and drink it all with a smile on your face because what kind of mother would you be if you didn't?

You wanted a new piece of jewelry — and you got it

When you were thinking jewelry for a Mother's Day gift, you might have envisioned diamonds or emeralds or pearls or maybe even a mother's ring. But that construction paper bracelet is from the heart and what kind of husband would upstage his sweet little princess' thoughtful gift? Paper jewelry it is. Wear it with care.

You know that homemade card that made you cry?

The mess will probably make you cry harder. Just do your best to make it look like your happy cry. As it turns out, picking specks of glitter out of the tile grout is just as tedious as you'd think. But that card…it was so incredibly sweet. Right?

It's never about you

You're reminded of this when your lovely and brand new Mother's Day dress ends up covered in diaper blowout contents during the brunch that was supposed to be in your honor. That's what you get for thinking you could dress up, put makeup on and wash your hair -- all for a single outing. Silly Mom.

Sleeping past sunrise is a distant memory — and that's for the best

It's your day. You should sleep in, right? Of course not! What kind of mom would turn away those darling little faces, peeking in your room, holding the breakfast we discussed above and bearing those paper jewelry gifts? Not you. Just tell yourself that if you slept in on Mother's Day, you might remember what you're missing. Better not to tease yourself like that.

Find ways to get some sleep — besides giving the family your two week notice >>

And all of this is the point, isn't it? Being a mom usually isn't about us. It's about the sweet little people that love us unconditionally and make our worlds go around -- the people that frustrate us, test our patience and wear us out, yet have the ability to put smiles on our faces so big we could burst.